Grapes

An unexpected trip to a place where I felt so good as a viewer. Bařina sent me so much optimism that I drew from it for several weeks. I enjoyed myself, admired, dreamed, and maybe three times I was so absorbed that I didn't believe my own senses. I don't need wine for a lifetime, but here I maybe felt like opening it for the first time. At one time, a promise of hope not only for the summer but also for Czech comedy. It is such a pity that we see so little of this accurate judgment. (02/04/2008)

I was sick and tired of the constant repetitive jokes about people from Prague (and I'm not from there myself). I didn't even get a proper dose of humor that I expect of a comedy. It made me smile a few times, but my sides remained unsplit. The film’s main assets were definitely Kryštof Hádek, whom I would find convincing even as a scam artist, and Tereza Voříšková, whose cracked voice makes the rest of my functioning nerve endings shiver. (04/05/2020)

This is a feature-length advertisement for Mikulov and Moravian vineyards, supplemented by rough patchwork scenes and isolated weak jokes. The film has style with no substance, with unsympathetic protagonists offering only a pile of pseudo-philosophizing about wine and a handful of stereotypical clichés about the sunny Moravian utopia that is supposed to be a landscape full of rest, easy women and cheerful uncles. (01/03/2020)

About wine and nothing. You can’t deny the relaxed atmosphere. “It’s got it" but only in the last half hour. About from the time when Lukáš Langmajer moves out of the story. Up until then it’s a rushed pastiche that doesn’t know where it’s heading or even how to get there. At least this goes on quite pleasantly. The cast is pleasantly little known, the music great (most of the best moments are connected with atmospheric parts resting only on the music), but the camerawork throws it all in the cesspool. Then it isn’t even kitschy-nice; it is the pure essence of the highest caliber of blatant kitsch. And with no technical support and everything filmed from the same bathwater. Over-the-top paint book image of a “clean" Moravia versus the gray tones of rotten Prague. Wow, how much time did it take the creators to think up such an incredibly innovative concept? But why get mad about it. It’s enough to say that the camerawork almost manages to kill the visual qualities of Terezka Voříšková. Which you might have thought is impossible. Despite everything, Grapes is a good movie. And mainly due to Vořísková, the red duck and Hádek. Bařina isn’t very active, but I wouldn’t refuse on principle to watch another movie by him. If he gets a different cameraman. But the movie makes you feel like a glass or two of wine afterward, so pass the red. Hey, where are you all? I want wine, but all I’ve got is Pilsen! (18/04/2008)

Considering that the second part is a terrible stupidity without any idea, the first part works and the characters haven't managed to annoy each other so much yet. True, 50% of the success is mainly due to wine and Moravia, and the rest will be taken care of by the actors and a fairly decent script. I remember "Bobule" quite fondly, although I prefer to forget about the sequel. The dramatic story works quite well here, but in the end, it's mainly the wine that stays in your memory. (23/12/2013)